Just joined TU , wonder if they ever have considered cleaning up Maurice river

[PinelandsGillie]

I just moved to deep south NJ from northwest philadelphia. I used to fish Valley Creek a lot and the Wissihickon in the spring as well as the usual suspects in northwest jersey when I had the time and gas money. I seen the Ray Nierle chapter fixed up masons run and I was so impressed I just joined TU. I really would like to learn more about conservation and am looking forward to their general membership meeting at the end of the month. I have fished the inlets around here near ocean city /strathmere and tried to fish for stocked trout in some ponds and the Maurice river. I explored the maurice quite a bit but like the ponds it seemed pretty impaired. Most fisherman down here love to throw their garbage all over the place and in the 80's on the blackwater branch their was an arsenic factory the army core of engineers spent years of cleaning up the soil and polluted water. The Maurice reminds me very much of the Toms River aside from the water is even darker and their is no trails to access it aside from road crossings which get hammered by powerbait pros. I noticed it is very difficult to wade up and downstream because of the deep deep muck which builds up on the sides of the streams from decaying matter. It is easier to wade in chest high water in the center channel. Is this how the stream should be naturally? with three foot of mud on the banks, and then gravel in the center channel? it would be cool if they made more trails up and downstream of the river, there isn't many places for my family to hike around, I kind of miss taking them to wissihickon gorge in the spring. Just curious if this river is on TU's radar. It seems so many ponds lakes and creeks down here are so impaired by overconstruction and overfarming. It can be a bit depressing trying to find clean water to fish after work. I was reading a book from 1903 about fishing in New Jersey and it meantioned scotlands run as a trout destination (which used to be the upper maurice river before it was dammed into about 7 lakes. It seems the rockaway river shared the same unfortunate fate, being dammed up so people could have lakefront property. Same with medford lakes , that whole area used to be rich with brook trout only 30 years ago until overconstruction dried up all the little creeks. Anyways, moving down here has really pushed me to get into conservation, as well as persuade my father who lives near the big flatbrook to join up there too(fred burroughs is the closest to branchville right?) . I work all over the state of NJ all day repairing solar energy projects, is it possible to visit other chapters in the state to help out in different areas? thanks.

 

[Rusty Spinner]

The Maurice is not going to get our (TU's) attention only because it is not trout habitat. Other than Mason's Run which will see more stream channel restoration this year but remains off limits to angling, there is precious little trout water for the E. Schwiebert chapter. So they focus on helping me in the lower Musconetcong watershed. In fact, they have plans to help our partners to plant additional willow cuttings and maintain previous plantings where the removed Finesville Mill dam was between Holland and Pohatcong townships, about 2 miles above where the Musky dumps into the Delaware.

Lots of chapters are working on hands-on conservation projects and they typically occur over weekends when most of our volunteers are available. Jersey Shore TU will be talking to me on Tuesday evening when I present to them in Oakhurst about clearing invasive plants along a newly restored 2 miles of Squankum Brook in Howell Twp. Ken Lockwood TU awaits word on a small, breached stone dam removal on the South Branch Raritan this summer if all goes well. Ridge & Valley TU has willow planting projects they are lining up on at least 2 Warren County trout streams. Your father's chapter, Fred S Burroughs North Jersey TU, is nearing the end of a big fundraising push to restore nearly a one mile section of Sparta Glen Brook that will require native plantings after the stream channel is restored. That is a section of stream restored poorly back in 2001 that failed during Hurricane Irene two years ago. Etc., etc.

I and others post work projects here and on other sites to drum up volunteers for various conservation projects. Look for those starting in early spring for the most part and ending in late fall. Welcome to Trout Unlimited! Just shoot me a PM if you have any questions as I work for them and know all 10 of our chapters well.

 

[MACFLY]

The Maurice is not going to get our (TU's) attention only because it is not trout habitat. Other than Mason's Run which will see more stream channel restoration this year but remains off limits to angling, there is precious little trout water for the E. Schwiebert chapter. So they focus on helping me in the lower Musconetcong watershed. In fact, they have plans to help our partners to plant additional willow cuttings and maintain previous plantings where the removed Finesville Mill dam was between Holland and Pohatcong townships, about 2 miles above where the Musky dumps into the Delaware.

Lots of chapters are working on hands-on conservation projects and they typically occur over weekends when most of our volunteers are available. Jersey Shore TU will be talking to me on Tuesday evening when I present to them in Oakhurst about clearing invasive plants along a newly restored 2 miles of Squankum Brook in Howell Twp. Ken Lockwood TU awaits word on a small, breached stone dam removal on the South Branch Raritan this summer if all goes well. Ridge & Valley TU has willow planting projects they are lining up on at least 2 Warren County trout streams. Your father's chapter, Fred S Burroughs North Jersey TU, is nearing the end of a big fundraising push to restore nearly a one mile section of Sparta Glen Brook that will require native plantings after the stream channel is restored. That is a section of stream restored poorly back in 2001 that failed during Hurricane Irene two years ago. Etc., etc.

I and others post work projects here and on other sites to drum up volunteers for various conservation projects. Look for those starting in early spring for the most part and ending in late fall. Welcome to Trout Unlimited! Just shoot me a PM if you have any questions as I work for them and know all 10 of our chapters well.

In other words he will need directions from 195 to the musconecting

 

[PinelandsGillie]

Thanks for the welcome and all the info. Yeh I definitely am more available on weekends. My work schedule is dependent on what solar energy sites breakdown so I am all over NJ from
newton to cape May area. I know the lower musky pretty well, I took my father fishing down near finesville to the mouth of the Delaware after we got skunked at point mountain in the fall. Would love to be a part to fixing up that and the SBR. If I am near oakhurst Tuesday I will try to stop in. My uncle owns some tree farms near mount holly and I think he might even like to be a part of donating trees. What do you usually plant willows and hemlocks? I know he grows a lot of willow oaks. Thanks again for the welcome, looking forward to helping as much as I can this year.

 

[Rusty Spinner]

My uncle owns some tree farms near mount holly and I think he might even like to be a part of donating trees. What do you usually plant willows and hemlocks? I know he grows a lot of willow oaks. Thanks again for the welcome, looking forward to helping as much as I can this year.

We only plant native trees and shrubs and willows are critical! While I haven't planted hemlocks which are, of course, native, I'd like to. But with the woolly adelgid infestation causing so many issues, I have steered away from hemlocks. I no longer plant ash either since it's just a matter of another year or two until the Emerald Ash Borer beetles show up in NJ and begin their devastation to the approx. 7 ash species that call NJ home. Sucks, but that's life these days. PM me your uncle's contact info when you get a chance. We had a very hard time last year finding enough willow stock at nurseries and I'm always looking for new suppliers of native plants. My biggest vendor went under two years ago in NY state.

 

[Trouser Trout]

Thanks for the welcome and all the info. Yeh I definitely am more available on weekends. My work schedule is dependent on what solar energy sites breakdown so I am all over NJ from
newton to cape May area. I know the lower musky pretty well, I took my father fishing down near finesville to the mouth of the Delaware after we got skunked at point mountain in the fall. Would love to be a part to fixing up that and the SBR. If I am near oakhurst Tuesday I will try to stop in. My uncle owns some tree farms near mount holly and I think he might even like to be a part of donating trees. What do you usually plant willows and hemlocks? I know he grows a lot of willow oaks. Thanks again for the welcome, looking forward to helping as much as I can this year.

Why do you want to move to the Green Mountains?

 

[PinelandsGillie]

because that is where i really fell in love with fishing again. My wifes grandmother has a house in Ripton east of middlebury, we usually take the kids up there to stay for a month, it is very close to the new haven and middlebury rivers, as well as lake champlain. It is about 0 degrees there right now, but some of the sections of the middlebury I have fished were just really magnificent ( and almost impossible to get to, especially with two younger kids) , and didn't get much pressure. I wouldnt mind living in northwest NJ, but moved my family to south NJ because getting a big house for all of our kids with room for a garden was still affordable for me. I was living in northwest philadelphia which has great fishing in the spring in wissihickon gorge, as well as year round fishing in valley and ridley creek pretty closeby. hope to explore fishing in maine and the catskills in 2014.